Understanding Youth Violence and Victimization: Implications for Social Work Practice (2 CEUs)

Youth violence is a serious social and public health concern, and numerous studies have documented risk factors associated with youth's exposure to and experiences in violence occurring in multiple contexts. The aim of this CEU class is to enhance social work practitioners' understanding of youth violence and how various type of violence impact children and adolescents. The major focus will be on child maltreatment, school bullying and victimization, and juvenile justice involvement. We will explore the associated risk factors and outcomes, particularly among diverse children and adolescents (i.e., racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ, special education, etc.) and the strengths and drawbacks of the current programs and policies.

Course objectives:

To highlight the importance of understanding whether routine activities theory helps to explain school-based victimization across urban, rural, and suburban school contexts.

To highlight the importance of understanding factors that potentially explain why children who are maltreated at home are likely to be involved in bullying and victimization in school, and to explore factors that disrupt the pathway from maltreatment to bullying involvement.

To investigate factors that are related to the likelihood of re-arrest among youth involved in the juvenile justice system and to highlight the importance of residential treatment centers.